DIY Astrological Sign Trinket Dish

Have you ever been shopping and pick something up and look at the price tag and then gently set it back down and walk away because no way Jose? Most often the item doesn’t look like it should be that price to begin with, and usually if that item is some home decor thing I think to myself I can make that.. and probably for only a couple of bucks. Welp, this here is one of such things.

Rose and I were casually perusing Antrhopologie, as you do, and saw these super cute astrological sign trinket dishes. We both really liked them and wanted to figure out a (less expensive) way to make them at home.

After rummaging through our craft supplies and making a general mess of our apartment we found some sculpey leftover from who knows what project. And after about an hour of kneading it, as it was very old and dried out, we were able to start a rolling!

Supplies:

Air drying clay

Acrylic paint

Paint brush

Instructions:
First we rolled out the clay with our hands, trying to make sure to get an even thickness. Then we used a round bowl and pressed it into the clay to get a circle. Once the dish was cut out, we plumped up the edges a bit by pinching around the sides gently. Next we used a small pokey tool (a sharpened pencil would work too or the back of a paint brush) to poke stars (dots) into the clay and connected them with a gentle line. We suggest you practice your design a couple of times on paper first as it was harder to center and even out in the clay (except for Aries – that one needs minimal practice, sorry Rose).

Once your design is to your liking, pop it in the oven to bake. Make sure to follow the instructions on the clay packaging, but I believe you bake at 275 for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch thickness. These guys wound up taking a bit of time, so be patient. Once out of the oven, make sure the dish is completely cool before you start painting. Start by painting the inside (blue for us) first, this took us several coats to get the desired opaqueness we wanted. Once the inside coat is finished and dry you can move onto painting the rim and the astrological sign. For this we used a smaller paintbrush, and for the stars we dipped the end of the paintbrush into the gold and then dipped that into the tiny hole. We tried to mimic the anthro version of this dish by using blue and gold, but feel free to paint yours whatever color strikes your fancy! We used this paint.

There you have it – an easy DIY that totally looks just like the real thing. A perfect gift to give to your friend for their birthday. Let us know in the comments below if you have ever seen something in a store and thought, I can definitely make that myself. Crafters unite! Also, do you think your astrological sign fits you?